Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Travel Fiends

On September 2, 2007, I wrote: Next summer I will organize things differently so that my travel is more spaced out, and I might say no to some invitations to participate in workshops and conferences..

Last summer I traveled much too much, and at the end of the summer I didn't feel rested and ready for the new term, and I didn't accomplish as much as I'd wanted to over the summer. In fact, as I was returning home from my most recent major, long-distance trip a few weeks ago, I felt very tired of traveling and being away from home and my family (and, yes, my office), and was happy at the thought of not going anywhere for too long or too far for a few months. I love traveling, but even I have my limits. Or, at least, I thought I had limits.

The day after I got back from that trip, I was invited to travel far far away for a very intriguing workshop later this month, and I instantly said yes. My daughter will be away at camp at that time, and the opportunity was too interesting to pass up. I think if I had got the invitation on the very day I was doing a lot of traveling, I might have said no, but I guess it only takes me 24 hours (or less) to forget about the annoying and exhausting aspects of traveling and to be willing to do it all again.

I am not the only one with travel amnesia. My husband is the same way. He was going to turn down some invitations to speak at conferences in a couple of months because he is tired of conferences and tired of so much traveling. Furthermore, some of these conferences, although juxtaposed in time, are on opposite sides of the world from each other, and he'd also agreed to serve on a panel that met at about the same time in yet another place. Somehow, however, he ended up searching online for absolutely insane travel itineraries to get him from one side of the world to the other so he can attend most of both conferences. He just told me he got his tickets.

Overall, I am traveling less this summer than I did last summer, so I hope to emerge from the summer feeling recharged for the fall term despite my upcoming wanderings, which may result in sporadic posting and comment moderating.

4 comments:

Great post, it is similar to me every January, I say I will buy Christmas presents throughout the year giving me welcome relief for the December rush...and Yep, you've guessed it, I the guy on Christmas Eve frantically starting my shopping!

I have trouble relating to this post. I love conferences in my field. I am at one now, in Mexico City. At conferences, I am highly respected, while at my home institution, I am merely tolerated. Conferences are the social and professional highlights of my year. It helps that I am in a field wherein the people genuinely like each other. I wish I could attend more than one or two topology conferences a year.

About Me

I am a full professor in a physical sciences field at a large research university. I am married and have a teenaged daughter.
I have the greatest job in the world, but this will not stop me from noting some of the more puzzling and stressful aspects of my career as a science professor.
E-mail (can't promise to reply): femalescienceprofessor@gmail.com